


Love Rests at the Junction Between Heart and Soul

by stardusting



Category: Aldnoah.Zero (Anime)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-09-14
Packaged: 2018-02-17 08:00:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2302403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardusting/pseuds/stardusting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s a child still so in love with Earth that makes a home between her bones and makes the princess press her hands and nose against the glass of the giant window and tries to count the seconds between lightning strikes to see how far away they are.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Rests at the Junction Between Heart and Soul

* * *

_“This moment will just be another story someday.”_

        - Stephen Chbosky, _The Perks of Being a Wallflower_

* * *

 

It's raining today. Not a gentle, pattering sound that beats hypnotically against the rooftop and windows, that wills the listener into a light sleep. This is a rain full of fierceness, that falls from the sky and makes things hard to see past a distance of a few feet. The sky is colored a deep and heavy grey, and each lightning strike illuminates it momentarily, followed by the sound of thunder loud like banging drums and causes light tremors to shake buildings weak enough to succumb to such power.

Asseylum watches it all with enraptured eyes, and has been since the beginning when it started off a gentle patter but hastened and turned into this downpour in a matter of minutes. There’s a child still so in love with Earth that makes a home between her bones and makes the princess press her hands and nose against the glass of the giant window and tries to count the seconds between lightning strikes to see how far away they are. Nina taught her about that when Asseylum experienced her first Earth storm, much different yet nearly the same as the ones on Mars. She likes the storms on Earth better, how they replenish the land with water and wash away impurities.

It's been four whole years since the war and both places are still healing in different ways and this is one of the ways that Earth heals itself and it makes her marvel.

Asseylum always has business on Mars and rarely has time to enjoy the other planet like she really wants to. The knights fell prey to a corruption that can't be fixed by pretty speeches and nice smiles. People still want her dead or off the throne at least and that is why she has yet to earn the title of _Empress of Vers_ despite her grandfather’s death. _An incompetent little girl should not rule the great Empire of Vers_ is what they say the most and maybe she shouldn't, but she has a strong refusal to leave the throne until she figures out a solution that won’t ruin the empire from the inside out. She loves it too much to let that happen.

Sometimes business takes her back to Earth if she's lucky, but not as much as did after the first two years of the war’s end. She's in a new place each time she visits, talking to different world leaders and sitting through meetings that would bore her half to death if she wasn't interested on how the different countries' politics were done. (They have their flaws, but she takes notes and admires them anyway.)There are days during her visits where she goes to an orphanage or helps plant flowers or feed people who have lost their homes to the war or visit veterans of carnage with dead eyes and nightmare laden dreams. Those places make her cringe on the inside the most, guilt eating away at her too kind heart and leaving her a sobbing mess for at least an hour and blaming herself for all of it.

Slaine is good to have around when she cries because princesses can't cry just in front of anyone, it's not a sign of weakness but people will exploit it if they think it is. Slaine won't however, he cares about her too much and lets her cry until his uniform jacket is soak through and rubs comforting circles against her back and holds her tight so she doesn't have to worry about being let go or left behind.

He loves her more than anything, more than Earth and Mars and all the stars and moons that litter the sky. Asseylum knows because he told her when she was weary at 16 and he was more comfortable in Terran skin at 17. And he apologized furiously for _burdening the princess with such trivial feelings_ ; face a heated red and body quivering out of fear of something he has yet to tell her. Maybe she shouldn't have cried when he confessed such a thing, but she did and he almost ran out the room, eyes downcast and heart probably close to broken. She stopped him by clinging onto his arm and repeated the words t _hank you, thank you, thank you over_ again between choked sobs and with a smile that stretched across her face. She loves him too, when she realized the childish interest she had in him changed into something stronger than her love for her empire she didn't know, but knew it was the right feeling to have.

The princess feels giddy thinking about the beginnings of love, butterflies flutter around in her stomach and she clasps her hands in front of her and smiles. Her body whirls away from window, long skirt flowing with her and golden tresses settling around her shoulders. Her feet are bare and make soft noises against the tile floor which is usually cold but colder due to the rain.

"Slaine." she calls to the young man who immediately puts down his book at the sound of her voice and gives her his full attention. She smiles softly, setting herself down next to him on the couch, head leaning against his shoulder and legs curled up too.

"The rain makes things so cold." her voice is a gentle mutter but she knows he can hear and grips one of his larger hands in both of hers and plays with his fingers to pass the time.

It takes him a whole five seconds before he relaxes and adjusts himself so she can be more comfortable. For the one that confessed first, Slaine is terrible at initiating affection, leaving it up to Asseylum to kiss him when he wasn't expecting it and hold his hand despite what people whispered or thought ill about him and their relationship. Some Martians still hate Terrans but she can't control what others think of them. Slaine has gotten good at ignoring it, but she still notices those few occasions when he flinches slightly like being stabbed by a knife after what someone might say to him.

She blames herself for his scars and he blames himself for his weaknesses.

It takes him another five whole seconds before he graces her with a verbal reply. "Rain helps cool down the Earth. It would be cold with all this rain. Do you want a blanket?"

"No, I don't think I need one. You're hands are very warm, Slaine. Most people have cold hands."

She can tell without looking that he's blushing, probably caught off guard by her strange words, but she's observant and Slaine does have warm hands. It makes her heart flutter when he interlocks their fingers together so now their hands are clasped like in prayer, palm against palm, and each finger signifying a different promise.

"You're thinking about something aren't you?"

She smiles and cuddles closer to his frame; Slaine knows her better than she knows herself on most days but she knows him better than himself too.

"Just why people, Martians and Terrans alike, are so cold sometimes. Warm blood flows through them, but maybe you need two at least to be warm."

He hums and she feels motion of him nodding before he speaks. "I see." and maybe he doesn't and is just humoring her, or maybe he actually does.

She breaks their contact suddenly and instead opts to rest her hands on the couch leaning forward and there's a glint in her eye once their gazes meet. "Let's get warm." she states boldly and isn't surprised when Slaine blinks twice before blushing red and moves his lips like he wants to say something in response.

He's given a kiss before he can say anything and looks confused when she pulls away. It isn't until the second one that he actually relaxes and Asseylum notes that he tastes like coffee, something she doesn't particularly mind but it’s too bitter for her liking. Maybe she can switch him back to tea instead. It's honestly uncomfortable in the position they're in, so Asseylum sits so she's straddling his lap and lets her unbound hair cover both their faces when she leans close. Slaine places his hands on her waist because there's nowhere else to put them and Asseylum rests her arms in his shoulders.

Each kiss after is soft and unique, different in timespan and how they're done. They all feel as natural as breathing. At one point, he kisses a spot on her neck that makes a series of giggles escape and decides that he probably won't do that again or maybe he will because she laughs bright like sunshine. He also kisses her cheeks and forehead and fingers, chaste but sweet. They kiss for what seems like hours until they're both huffing lightly and lips feel sensitive to the touch.

Asseylum curls back up against him, ear resting close enough to hear his erratic heartbeat and listen to hit calm down. Slaine feels brave and threads his fingers through her hair and places a kiss atop her head and mutters something that sounds close to _I love you_ and she knows that's the purest truth.

The rain has not slowed and makes the earth cold, but Asseylum feels warmer than she’s ever been.

**Author's Note:**

> Prays for both Asseylum and Slaine to survive this series.


End file.
